Let’s address the elephant in the room (don’t worry I didn’t eat one)

Heyyy, how you all doing? 🫣

I told you this was going to be a weekly thing. I looked you in the eye (well, in the inbox) and said "same time, every week." and I've already no-showed on you last Friday. 

But listen, hear me out…  I'm in New York covering the World Cup and I've been filming every day, eating at every hour, and sleeping at none of them.

I am genuinely sorry, it won't happen again. 

Anyways, we're back, kettle's on 🫖

I'm still out here in New York, I've got about four weeks left, and I have a lot of thoughts (one of them is about pancakes and it's going to upset people). 

Oh!! The BBQ video is finally out today. Terry Black's, La Barbecue, all of it. 

Go watch it 👇

📺 WATCH: I Tried The Best BBQ in Austin

Right, so my next video drops next week and ladies and gentleman… 

It's a big one. 

Before I flew out to New York to see the first match, I went and tried the national dish of every country in the World Cup (in London). 

I'm not going to spoil the whole thing, but I'll give you some of the stuff that didn't quite make the edit and my honest thoughts now I've had time to sit with it.

The winner was… 🥁  

Argentina. 

Now, Argentina are obviously known for their incredible beef, so you'd think it was some massive steak situation.

But nahh, we went in a different direction: a sandwich. An Argentinian sandwich from Camden Food Market. And it was out of this world. 

Heaven between each bite.

Like, I've had a lot of sandwiches in my time, and this one? Hit different. 

The point of the video wasn't really about which country has the best cuisine overall, because I don't think Argentina necessarily wins that. But that specific meal? Outrageous.

Spain's paella was lovely. An eclectic mix of pure perfection. 

Went to a spot in Borough Market for that one, and honestly Borough Market is still one of the best places to eat in London. It is touristy (I'm not going to pretend it isn't) but if you go on like a Tuesday or a Wednesday instead of a weekend, it's a completely different experience. 

They've got Bread Ahead there as well, which does some of the best donuts in London. So if you're visiting, go. Just don't go on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. You'll hate it!

Mexican was really good too, but I think if I'd tried Mexican food literally anywhere other than the UK, it would've scored way higher. Hate to say it, we just don't do Mexican food well over here. Like, there's been a couple spots where you go "okay, that's decent," but particularly the street food and quick-service stuff, we're just so behind. I reckon if I'd had it in New York or anywhere in the US, it would've been a completely different story.

French cuisine: I had some crepes, and I love a crepe. Crepes clear pancakes btw. But I'll get into that in a minute (fumin 😠)

As I said, I've been in New York for a couple of weeks now and I've come to a conclusion that I think has been building up for years and I need to let it out. 

Pancakes are naff and they’re the most overrated food of all time.

I'm not saying they're disgusting, I can appreciate them. 

But I NEVER finish them. 

They're usually dry, and the solution everyone offers is "just put more maple syrup on it."

No. I'm not doing that. That's not fixing the core problem here. You're just masking the issue. If your food needs to be drowned in syrup to be edible, that's a rescue mission.

Waffles clear them every single time, it's not even close ladies and gents. Waffles should always start ahead, and pancakes can be benched. You know what… pancakes can be relegated. I'm comfortable saying that.

And while I'm on a roll and feeling all worked up - bagels. 

Everyone in New York keeps telling me I've got to try this spot and that spot and honestly? I don't fully get it. They're decent, but a lot of the time they're quite dry. I had a salt beef bagel at that famous spot on Brick Lane in London too - it was okay. I just don't understand the fascination.

Now, am I just not having the right ones? Am I not getting the right fillings? Maybe. 

My fiancée actually went out today to go get one to try and convince me they're good. So I'll report back on my latest attempt. But I feel like I'm going to have to leave New York liking bagels because everybody here loves them. I just don't get it. 

Pancakes and bagels: 

Disappointing.

Fuel for the week

Best thing I ate in New York:

Right, so there's a place called Thai Diner and it caught me off guard. 

It's a spot that doesn't scream anything crazy special from the outside, and then the food arrived and I just sat there like an idiot staring at it. 

The Thai food scene in London is good, I'm not going to disrespect it, but this was a different level. I took pictures and everything, which if you know me, I don't do that unless something's got a hold of me. 

(apologies for the half eaten food lol, I forgot to take a pic before I started scranning)

New York's like that though, absolutely littered with these little spots that just serve incredible food without making a big deal about it. 

On my radar: 

I'm heading to a place called The Palm today. 

I know absolutely nish about this spot, but I'll report back next week. 

The big one though, and I’m on the edge of my seat for this one.

Hawksmoor New York. 

You lot know how I feel about Hawksmoor in London. 

It's been one of my favourite restaurants since I moved there. I had the Big Matt burger made by the head chef for the London burger video. So going to the NYC spot feels like visiting a mate who's moved abroad - you just need to know they're doing well. 

The steakhouse scene out here is absurd though. Like, the level is frightening. So Hawksmoor's got competition it doesn't have back home. 

Coming soon: 

I've started filming a World Cup stadium food tour. 

Essentially I’m trying food at each stadium, at different price points. It's taking a while because I'm having to go to loads of different games (no complaints here), but it's coming along.

Keep an eye out for that one 👀

Oh and shoutout to Chip who’s been my New York food plug. He's given me loads of spots - Monkey Bar, a few steakhouses, all sorts. Everyone needs a Chip, get yourself a Chip.

COMMUNITY RECS… WE'RE DOING IT!!

94% of you said yes, so this is it.

Last newsletter I asked if you wanted a section where you lot recommend places to me. 

94% of you voted yes, which is a more convincing majority than most elections. 

So we're launching it.

This is how it works. 

If you want to, you reply to this newsletter and send me a restaurant, a takeaway, a market stall, a random spot you found on holiday - anywhere. Tell me where it is and what to order. If it's good, I'll feature it in the next issue. If it's really good, you never know, I might go there.

London spots are easiest for me to try obvs, but I'm in New York for the next month, so if you've got New York recs - even better. 

Send them in (and don’t forget to attach pics of the food if you have them 📷)

I need to know where you lot stand on this.

That's it for this week. 

Sorry again for going missing last week. 

I'm going to blame the jet lag even though I've been here for two weeks now and that excuse stopped working about ten days ago.

Next week: 

See you next week. 

Go eat something good!

Cal 🥒

No Pickles · Issue 04 · by the numbers

Stamps awarded to date: 2

Newsletters promised weekly: 4

Newsletters delivered: 3

Countries' national dishes tried: all of them

Pancakes finished in my lifetime: 0

Weeks left in New York: 4